Wilde's work uses a circus frame for combinatorial pieces in six discrete sections.
These modules foreground the program's recipe and invite a discussion of how to define a "successful" story.
When it was first displayed in 2002 at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL, the piece had the title, "Postmodern Conditions Contemporary Times" (Link). Scaffolding of storytelling undeniably present; suspense and emotional engagement absent: "The computer's rhetoric is a rhetoric of indifference" (Simanowski 95).
Textual Elements/ Digital Affordances
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Music element: Louis-Philippe Laurendeau’s circus-like "Thunder and Blazes" (1910), a small-band reworking of Julius Fučík’s Opus 68 military march, "The Entrance of the Gladiators" (1897) (Source). Fits within remix/re-purpose motif.
Six-paragraph template:
S1: Exposition - Protagonist takes initiating action despite baggage/challenge
S2: Inciting incident: Shift in circumstances - sometimes major, sometimes minor
S3: Rising action: Protagonist involved with secondary character, with parallel baggage
S4: Rising action: Third character appears, reveals traits through showing/telling
S5: Climax: Decidedly vague and understated climax
S6: Denouement: Relationships reshuffled; consequences for all three
Page from original catalog providing sense of scope - how many options for each field:
Before (25 options) Protagonist_ (60 options) Initiating action ___ (37 options)
Analysis/Interpretation
"It is probable that with his Love Letter Generator, [Strachey] parodied the familiar, sanctioned, conventional way to express love. The actual meaning of the Love Letter Generator would thus be the deconstruction of love letters" (Simanowski 94).
To what extent might the "Mad Libs" style plot generation parody the limited pool of stories that our culture tells and/or celebrates?
To what extent might the feverish introductory circus music parallel the big-budget bells and whistles of a contemporary film release, often ending in the release of a repetitive, formulaic product?
"One wonders whether this text generator [Scott Turner's Minstrel] will lead to genuine stories the author would not have thought of without the help of a machine. Can this program really help a writer develop intriguing plots, let alone meaningful characters?" (Simanowski 96).
Conversely, could the sometimes intriguing results generated by randomizing algorithms demonstrate a cognitive creativity beyond most of the story variations our culture regularly exchanges?
Kurt Vonnegut, of his planned but rejected Master's Thesis: “There is no reason why the simple shapes of stories can’t be fed into computers. They are beautiful shapes.” (Source).
Overview
Wilde's work uses a circus frame for combinatorial pieces in six discrete sections.These modules foreground the program's recipe and invite a discussion of how to define a "successful" story.
When it was first displayed in 2002 at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL, the piece had the title, "Postmodern Conditions Contemporary Times" (Link).
Scaffolding of storytelling undeniably present; suspense and emotional engagement absent:
"The computer's rhetoric is a rhetoric of indifference" (Simanowski 95).
Textual Elements/ Digital Affordances
S1: Exposition - Protagonist takes initiating action despite baggage/challenge
S2: Inciting incident: Shift in circumstances - sometimes major, sometimes minor
S3: Rising action: Protagonist involved with secondary character, with parallel baggage
S4: Rising action: Third character appears, reveals traits through showing/telling
S5: Climax: Decidedly vague and understated climax
S6: Denouement: Relationships reshuffled; consequences for all three
Before (25 options)
Protagonist _ (60 options)
Initiating action ___ (37 options)
Analysis/Interpretation
"It is probable that with his Love Letter Generator, [Strachey] parodied the familiar, sanctioned, conventional way to express love. The actual meaning of the Love Letter Generator would thus be the deconstruction of love letters" (Simanowski 94).To what extent might the "Mad Libs" style plot generation parody the limited pool of stories that our culture tells and/or celebrates?
To what extent might the feverish introductory circus music parallel the big-budget bells and whistles of a contemporary film release, often ending in the release of a repetitive, formulaic product?
"One wonders whether this text generator [Scott Turner's Minstrel] will lead to genuine stories the author would not have thought of without the help of a machine. Can this program really help a writer develop intriguing plots, let alone meaningful characters?" (Simanowski 96).
Conversely, could the sometimes intriguing results generated by randomizing algorithms demonstrate a cognitive creativity beyond most of the story variations our culture regularly exchanges?
Kurt Vonnegut, of his planned but rejected Master's Thesis: “There is no reason why the simple shapes of stories can’t be fed into computers. They are beautiful shapes.” (Source).